From their kitchen at the restaurant Al Mercato (16, Via Sant’Eufemia – Milan)Beniamino Nespor and Eugenio Roncoroni serve food that is both contemporary and steeped in tradition. It happens to be extremely exciting too. Among their sources of inspiration they mention Thomas Keller, Alain Ducasse and Marco Pierre White, and their technique is indeed rigorous, but their flavors draw from contemporary American gastronomy, with dashes of South East Asia. This shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing that the guys – former schoolmates – traveled the world before settling back in their hometown. Both the “Ristorante” and at the more informal “Burger Bar” (two sides of the same establishment) boast a curated selection of sophisticated and not at all obvious ingredients in odd pairings that manage to come together very well. We recommend thepulled pork sandwich (served on an impeccable bun with a homemade bbq sauce that is to die for), the noodle soup(but it’s really a version of Vietnamese “Pho”), the oven baked marrow on toasted bread. Anything with duck tongue and pidgeon, really: they know how to do them justice. Next on their agenda? A noodle bar operating til 3am. We look forward to that, especially seeing how poor the choice is for “night owl gourmands” in Milan.

By Laura Lazzaroni